Photojournalistic Wedding Photography

for Boston, Providence, Newport, Cape Cod (and beyond)

Above all else, I want you to delight in every moment of your wedding. I want you to laugh, I want you to cry. I want you to take it all in. I want the photographs I create for you to remind you of the joy and love you felt at your wedding, surrounded by the people you care about most. I want to freeze this moment in time for you, so that you can keep it forever and enjoy the memories any time you want.

My approach towards wedding photography is to unobtrusively capture real moments as they naturally unfold to tell your wedding story in the most meaningful way possible.

This is your day, not mine, and I want to you to savor it. My focus is on capturing people, their connectedness and genuine emotions. My hope is that the photographs I make for you allow you to remember exactly how your wedding felt so that you can share it with generations to come.

Kristen + David

What about traditional posed portraits?

Weddings have the ability to bring together people from far and wide who may or may not otherwise have the opportunity to reunite, and it would be my honor to document the important guests who have come together to celebrate this special day with you. I am more than happy to include all of the family, wedding party, and other group portraits that matter to you.

“I cant stop looking at them. I am so so so so glad I found you. The pictures captured everything! 🙂 Totally worth every penny 🙂 I felt like you were there to help, like a bridesmaid. I’m forever a fan of yours! You made me a happy camper for life!”

Allison & Nick

“Love! Thank you, Sharon, for the amazing photos. We couldn’t be happier with all these pictures! You captured all of the fun & hapiness that day.”

Heather & Shawn

“We absolutely love these- thank you SO much… I can’t wait for everyone to see them—you do beautiful work!”

Kellie & Adam

“These pictures are absolutely AMAZING!! Thank you so much for capturing our day in such beautiful photos! I’m so glad I found you!! THANK YOU!!!!”

Terra & Derek

“Aside from liking your photography, I chose you because I thought you were detail oriented, took what you did seriously and would do your absolute best. The pictures were beautiful and my family loved them very much! Thank you!”

Choosing the Right Wedding Photographer

What are you looking for in a wedding photographer?

Once you identify what matters to you, it will make finding the right wedding photographer for you a piece of (wedding) cake! Do you want someone who tell the story of your day in a beautiful way without interfering? (It might be me you‘re looking for!) Perhaps you want someone who is going to be in control of the day so you don’t have to, or maybe you are looking for someone who is an expert at posing to make you look your best, or someone who shares your creative ideas and love of all things Pinterest. There’s no wrong answer, just what matters most to you.

Is this a person you want to spend your entire wedding day with?

Your wedding photographer is going to be at your side throughout your entire wedding day, including during many intimate moments that are typically reserved for only your closest family or friends. It’s important that you trust them and feel they are someone you will be comfortable around. It’s also important that they are someone who is relaxed and can help you manage the stresses of the day, while remaining calm and enthusiastic.

Do they seem professional?

Do they respond to your emails or phone calls in a timely manner? Do they have positive reviews online and fans on their social networking sites? Do they belong to professional organizations? No matter how talented a person may be, if they fail to perform in a professional manner, you might end up feeling very frustrated after your wedding is over. Trust your gut and make sure they have a reliable reputation by doing a little investigating. And if they fail to answer your questions before the wedding, don’t take chances that they will be accessible after the day either!

Can the photographer shoot quality photographs in any lighting circumstance?

Hopefully this is one of the easiest things for you to decipher as you are looking at potential wedding photographers. I strongly recommend asking anyone you are seriously considering booking to see a full gallery from one or more weddings. It’s important to see examples of their work both indoors and outdoors, on sunny days and cloudy, at nighttime, etc. You may want to be wary of anyone who only displays work that was captured in daylight, or whose work looks like it only consists of stylized photo shoots (and not real weddings.)

Do they have backup equipment?

Accidents happen. Equipment breaks. That’s why it is so important that your wedding photographer has enough equipment available at your wedding so that they can continue working even if something breaks, malfunctions, or becomes lost or stolen. Unlike other types of portrait photo sessions, your wedding is a live event that cannot be recreated, and you do not want to risk losing everything due to an unfortunate accident.

In addition to having multiple cameras, lenses, flashes, batteries, and memory cards, it’s also critical that your photographer has a workflow in place that makes certain the images they take are backed up in multiple places. Most professional camera bodies are able to write onto two memory cards at the same time, so your photographer should have two sets of images from the very moment the camera shutter is clicked, up until you are enjoying the final images in the comfort of your own home.

Are they insured?

Professional wedding photographers need to carry insurance for a couple of important reasons. First of all, that suitcase full of camera gear probably costs more than many cars on the road. Here’s why that matters to you. Let’s say it’s a week or so before your wedding, and your photographer just had all of her gear stolen from her car. As long as she is insured, she’ll be able to replace the stolen gear and make it to your wedding without any loss to you.

The other big reason your photographer should carry insurance is to protect themselves from liability in case Great Aunt Cindy trips over the light stand and breaks a hip, or some other unfortunate accident. In fact, some wedding venues require the photographer to supply a certificate of insurance in order to work on the premises, (something I’d be more than happy to provide if you need one.) In general, having insurance also helps give you a little peace of mind that the person you are hiring takes their job seriously.

FAQs

Do you edit all of our photographs?

All of the images that are included in your final gallery are color-corrected and processed to enhance the image. I prefer to use a ‘clean’ processing style, so that the images are timeless, not trendy. In general, I do not do extensive Photoshop retouching to my images because my philosophy is that my role is to capture the story of the day as accurately as possible.

How many pictures will we receive?

I work hard during your wedding to cover as many important moments as humanly possible. In order to capture each moment perfectly, I shoot many, many shots throughout the day. This usually means I will have thousands of images to go through when I get home. Going through all of these shots and selecting the right images to tell the story of your day is a very important part of the service I provide to you. Images that might be removed from the final gallery include those that have people with eyes closed or unflattering expressions, are duplicates of other shots, or are not technically up to par for varying reasons. I strive to include as many images as possible, so there is no standard number of images included with every wedding. On average, you can expect somewhere in the range of 50-100 images per hour of coverage.

How long will it take to see our photos?

I know how excited you are to see your images and I want you to have them as soon as possible. It is my top priority to provide you with the same level of care and communication after your wedding as in the days leading up to it. That said, my job as your photographer is nowhere near finished when I leave your wedding. Editing is just as important to creating a beautiful photograph as clicking the shutter, and it does take time to go through the entire volume of images taken throughout the day. My workflow allows me to deliver your images approximately 6 weeks after your wedding.

Does our package include the copyright of the images?

All of my wedding packages that include an album, also include the high-resolution digital files of every image in the gallery. (If you choose not to include an album, high-res digital images can also be purchased a la carte.) The digital images will include a Personal-Usage License, granting you permission to print, share, and display the photos online however you see fit. As the artist who created these images, I still maintain the full copyright ownership of the images, however with the personal usage license you are not restricted in any way from printing or sharing the photos anywhere you choose for your own enjoyment.

The only restrictions I do maintain, is that the images should not be used in any commercial way without my explicit permission. This includes use on websites by other vendors from your wedding (such as the venue, the florist, the musicians, makeup artists, etc.) If any of these vendors request photographs from your wedding, simply direct them to me and I will be happy to negotiate usage terms with them. Usually, all that I ask is for them to provide a link to my website in exchange for use of the image.

Can we see the outtakes or any images that didn’t make the ‘final cut’?

Selecting the right images to tell the story of your day is a very important part of the service I provide to you. I strive to include as many images as possible, and it is important to me to include photographs of as many of your guests as possible. Images that might be removed from the final gallery include those that have people with eyes closed or unflattering expressions, are duplicates of other shots, or are not technically up to par for varying reasons. These images are explicitly removed because they do not meet my professional standards. If there is any doubt, I will unvaryingly leave an image in your gallery rather than leave it out, because I know many photos may be meaningful to you for personal reasons I could not possibly understand. I do not hold onto the images that are not part of your final gallery because I am certain they will not be of value to you.

Can we provide you with a ‘shot list’?

I absolutely want you to provide me with a list of any photographs that are important to you, particularly of guests that you want to be photographed with, or any details that have special meaning to you that you don’t want me to miss. I will refer to this list throughout the day, and consult with you to make sure we are able to capture every image you care about.

It is not necessary, however, for you to provide me with a step-by-step checklist of photos to take at the wedding (like this). My approach to photographing weddings is to capture moments as they naturally unfold, and following a template like this is actually very distracting. Most of these shots are going to be intuitive for me, so following a list is only going detract from the amount of attention I am able to place on observing what is happening around me.

I am more than happy to share a full gallery from a recent wedding with you to give you a good idea of the kind of coverage you can expect me to provide you with.

Do you have insurance?

I sure do! I have full equipment and liability insurance. I think this is a super-important question to ask any photographer you are considering for your wedding.

Professional wedding photographers need to carry insurance for a couple of important reasons. First of all, that suitcase full of camera gear probably costs more than many cars on the road. Here’s why that matters to you. Let’s say it’s a week or so before your wedding, and your photographer just had all of her gear stolen from her car. As long as she is insured, she’ll be able to replace the stolen gear and make it to your wedding without any loss to you.

The other big reason your photographer should carry insurance is to protect themselves from liability in case Great Aunt Cindy trips over the light stand and breaks a hip, or some other unfortunate accident. In fact, some wedding venues require the photographer to supply a certificate of insurance in order to work on the premises, (something I’d be more than happy to provide if you need one.) In general, having insurance also helps give you a little peace of mind that the person you are hiring takes their job seriously.

What kind of equipment do you use?

I currently shoot with at least two Nikon D750 camera bodies. I bring a minimum of 3 professional camera bodies to every wedding as a precaution in case of malfunction. I have a variety of quality lenses I use, both wide angle and telephoto. My favorites are the Sigma 35mm ART, the Nikon 85mm 1.4G and the Nikon 70-200 2.8G VR II. I also bring plenty of lighting equipment so that I can adequately capture high quality images in any environment. I enjoy working with off-camera flash, and my new favorite flash modifiers are the MagMod system.

What if your camera breaks at the wedding?

I bring enough gear with me to every wedding so that I feel confident that if something were to break, I would still be able to work without missing a beat. This includes multiple camera bodies, lenses, flashes, batteries and memory cards. In the worst-case, apocalyptic scenario, such as my entire camera bag being stolen, I have a huge network of AMAZING photographers I would reach out to for help. These folks have proven themselves to back each other up in times of need.

How do you backup your images?

I take backups very seriously! My cameras have slots for two SD memory cards, so every image I take is simultaneously saved on two different cards, to protect against loss in case a card becomes corrupt. I carry the SD cards on me at all times. As soon as I return from a wedding, I download the images to my computer that night. I then store the SD card in a safe place and will not overwrite the images until your gallery has been delivered. My hard drive is backed up nightly onto a separate drive, and once a week the backup drive is also backed up to a third location.

How long have you been in business? How many weddings have you photographed?

I started my business in December of 2006, initially focusing on photographing babies and families. Photography has become a great way for me to balance being a mom with having a fulfilling career. I have always put the needs of my own family first, and so I have always limited the number of jobs I accept.

I resisted booking weddings for many years because of the sacrifice it meant for my family to spend so much time away on weekends. Over the years though, I started shooting weddings as a second photographer for many of my friends and colleagues, and eventually began booking a very limited number of weddings as part of my own business.

Now that my daughter is older, life is a little bit different. She is more independent and wants to spend more time with friends on the weekends. And I’ve changed too. I’ve really grown to love the creative challenges weddings offer me as an artist, and I enjoy getting to know my wedding couples and witnessing the love and emotion of their special day.

I look forward to every wedding and feel blessed to be surrounded by happiness on so many occasions! At the time of this writing, I have photographed more than 60 weddings of all types and sizes.

Can you hold a date for me?

I require a signed contract and payment of the retainer in order to reserve any wedding date. Wedding retainers are not refundable, even if you cancel the wedding. In order to be as fair as possible to all potential clients, any available wedding dates are booked on a first-come, first-serve basis once the contract and payment are received. This means if you are considering me to photograph your wedding on a particular date, there is a possibility another couple could meet with me and hire me on the spot before you have a chance to make your decision. Although I know that is a very unfortunate circumstance, it is the only fair and impartial way I can make bookings. This way, everyone has the same opportunity to book me on the spot if they so choose, and you can feel reassured that I will not be pressuring you to book by implying there are other inquiries for your wedding date. If you feel confident I will be the right fit for your wedding, I encourage you to complete the booking process as soon as possible in order to secure your wedding date.

If I need to cancel my wedding, is the retainer refundable?

I require payment of the wedding retainer in full along with a signed contract in order to reserve your wedding date. Once your date has been reserved, any other inquiries that are received for that date will be turned away. For this reason, I am not able to refund your retainer in case your wedding is cancelled. Additional terms for refunds may also apply according to the payment schedule you choose for your wedding package. I will be happy to answer any questions you have when we go over the payment options for your particular package.

My cameras may be capable of shooting video, but I do not offer videography as a service at this time. If you are considering hiring a videographer, I believe it is important to find someone who shares a similar approach to documenting weddings as your photographer. That way, they can work together better as a team, rather than competing to shoot in different styles in the same spaces. I would be happy to refer you to some videographers I have enjoyed working with.

Will you stay until the very end of our wedding?

I certainly can stay as long as you need me to, however I have found it is not usually necessary for me to stay until the very end of your wedding reception. I’m happy to discuss coverage options and packages with you to make sure I will be there to capture the moments you need. If you change your mind on your wedding day and decide you’d like me to stay longer than originally contracted, it is no problem for me to stay as long as you’d like. (I will ask you to sign an authorization form though, just so there’s no dispute later on when I send you an invoice.) ?